


Too Much, Too Soon

by SherlockHolmes



Series: Asexy April 24 Fics in 24 Hours Challenge [9]
Category: The Hour
Genre: Asexual Character, Post Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-27
Updated: 2013-04-27
Packaged: 2017-12-09 15:43:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/775922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockHolmes/pseuds/SherlockHolmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Ace!Freddie/Bel, where Bel leaves him because he's not fulfilling her</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Much, Too Soon

A week after Freddie got out of hospital, he tumbled into a relationship with Bel. 

The relationship was odd, to say the least. That was, in part, due to how long it had been coming. Ever since they’d first met there’d been chemistry between them. In the year leading up to the Cilenti incident, it had been rife. Now that they were finally together, it was like they’d slipped into an alternate universe. Bel and Freddie were as people thought they should be, but it was... different. Not quite what either of them had expected.

Of course, Freddie’s condition didn’t help. 

He’d taken a beating from Cilenti, and it had left it’s scars. Sometimes, he lost control, fingers skittering haphazardly across his typewriter’s keyboard, hands jerking out without his will. Most days, he had to get around using a walking stick, his legs not quite strong enough to carry him.

Even away from the physical side of things there was damage. A closed door caused fear to well up inside him. An unexpected hand on his shoulder could send him into a flashback. People standing too close to him and raised voices, too, tended to frighten him. Rarely a night went past that wasn’t wrought with terrors. This Freddie had become a mere shadow of the smart, confident journalist Bel knew. 

Their relationship wasn’t exactly loving. There wasn’t time for emotions like that. Freddie was damaged, she knew. So she didn’t push for anything he wasn’t ready for. Even as he slowly came back out of his shell, she still trod carefully, afraid of saying something to send him back to who he’d been. 

But, after three months, Bel was getting sick of treading carefully around her partner. Sick of constantly waking up in the middle of the night, sick of always having to help him up.

“Freddie,” she said one night as they sat on the couch, situated slightly away from each other. “Are we ever going to move on from here?”

“From where?”

“From here. This. Constantly dancing around each other.”

Freddie frowned. “I don’t know. At the moment, probably not. I just...I can’t. Not yet. Maybe not ever.”

Bel shook her head. “Freddie, I don’t know if we can continue on like this.”

“I know, Moneypenny. I know. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too.”

She moved to embrace him, but stopped as he flinched away from her. Guilt welled up in her gut, but she knew she couldn’t live like this, letting the scarred Freddie suck the life out of her.

“I love you, Freddie. But it’s not enough. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Moneypenny. It’s okay. I understand, I truly do.”

Even if they had gotten together before the incident, Freddie doubted much would’ve changed. It was part of what had driven away Camille - the lack of intimacy, lack of anything. Freddie loved Bel with all his heart, but he knew he could never give her what she wanted. And he was kidding himself if he thought he ever could.


End file.
